


Baltimore

by bothways



Series: Dutiful Sons [6]
Category: Boondock Saints (Movies)
Genre: Possessive Behavior, Religious Content, Religious Guilt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2019-03-20 11:33:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13716825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bothways/pseuds/bothways
Summary: The Saints continue with their plan to clean up the streets of Baltimore.





	Baltimore

**Author's Note:**

> This work continues from "Uncle Sibeal". Murphy continues to work on the port in Baltimore for cash in hand whilst discovering information for IL Duce. Connor finds it difficult to come to terms with Murphy carrying on an independent investigation on his own. The Saints continue to work closely with the Church to ensure the protection of the poor people in Baltimore.

Any labourer on the Port who worked four 12-hour shifts straight was entitled to a day off. The port foreman stuck to this rule even for the poor migrant workers getting paid in cash who, in general, had no employment rights. Murphy supposed they didn't want men falling down on the job. Fer sure he was gunna fall down if he didn't get a bit of rest. He'd never needed much sleep but this was hard strenuous work that involved a lot of lifting in a way his body wasn't used to nevermind the fact that every night after his shift he went out with his brother and father to the drugs slums. He found himself fascinated with the abject misery and horror of it all. He'd watched two pretty severe beatings and one rape then seen his father kill two men with his knife and his brother (who also seemed to have procured a selection of knives) a third. They never discussed who was going to do the honours, it was as if they all instinctively knew. A bit like the way they said grace when it was just the three of them, one of them just started the prayer and the others listened. Murphy realised over these nights in the bowels of hell just how in tune the three of them had become. Acting, killing and praying as one. He supposed he had better get himself a knife as well.

He rose a little later than usual although he was still up before Connor. His father smiled warmly as he came through to the lounge yawning. 

"Thought ye were going to stay in bed all day lad." It was just beginning to get light outside.

"Aye Da. Thought someone else could make breakfast."

"Fair enough." Il Duce rose to make a cup of tea and, for once, Murphy let him, flopping down into the plastic kitchen chair. Murphy drank two cups of tea before feeling ready to engage in conversation in any way. "What've ye got planned fer me today?"

Il Duce chuckled . "Its yer day off lad. Ye cain do whatever ye want." Murphy looked at him quizzically.

"That's a joke right? I get to decide what I want to do today and ye and Connor are not going to find something you just need my help with?" His father ruffled his hair.

"I didn't quite say that son, just there's nothing planned fer ye at the moment apart from hoping ye'll come with us again tonight to the projects." As he said the words Murphy could hear the crunch of knife slammed hard into bone and the coppery smell of fresh blood.

"Think I can manage that." Murphy paused. "Thought I should get a knife like ye and Connor have. Can't keep borrowing yers."

"Aye that's an idea." Il Duce took a drink of tea. "Its just if we're gunna get ye a decent blade we need to go see someone in the know and I ain't got time fer that today and I think ye'll need me with ye to get served. Contact's a man I met in the bar the other night when ye had yer little set to with the Munster family. I didn't get a chance to introduce ye. Talking about them, you had any problems with 'em on the Port?"

"Nah. Coupla' dirty looks. The one with the knife don't work there, just his older brothers I think."

"Ye think they might try to jump ye."

"Nah, doubt it. Not if they want to keep working there. I don't think the foreman likes trouble much."

"Would he get rid of ye?"

"I don't think so. He seems to like me well enough. Told me I can have as many shifts as I like." Il Duce smiled as if at some private joke.

"Would've made a good docker in another life, son." Murphy thought about it. Wondering again what that other Murphy with a normal life would have been like. He did like working on the port for all that the work was hard and cold. There was a camaraderie and a ribald sarcastic humour between the men working there that he enjoyed; it had only been a couple of days but he had begun to pal around with a couple of the men whilst he was there. Had been invited to go to the bar with some of them although hadn't been able to make it due to his nocturnal job. It was strange to be just Murphy and be liked for being just Murphy. None of the workers on the port even knew he had a brother. He had enjoyed working at the meat-packing factory too albeit that the humour had been quite a bit tamer as both men and women had worked there and most of the pranks had involved Connor. He had made several good friends at the factory, both men and women, and he wondered if he'd ever see them again.

 

Murphy shrugged. "Oh well, no reason then I cain't just stay here, watch back to back movies."

"Well there is one reason why that might be a bit difficult. The Cardinal's coming round." Murphy shifted on his chair and wrinkled his face. "Why's he comin' here Da?"

"Its Sibeal's idea. Says it ain't safe for me to go there what with what's about to happen. People working with the cardinal might put two and two together and we don't need any word until we're ready. We even need Sibeal to move out now, go live with the other priests so he can't lead anyone back to us." Murphy nodded.

 

"I'd like you here son, like yer take on whats happening but I know ye ain't so keen on spending time with the Cardinal."

 

"If you want me here, I'll be here."

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He didn't usually pray in the middle of the day indeed he often prayed first thing before the others were up. It just so happened that because he got up a little later than usual, because his da wanted to go on a longer run than usual, because they left it to him to cook breakfast (as it was his day off supposedly) and because he got a particularly loud bollocking from Connor about the mess he had made the previous night with gun oil, food and whisky he still hadn't prayed anything more than a couple of "Our Fathers" by 10 o'clock in the morning. He would still have prayed with the others after breakfast had Father Sibeal, when it appeared that their Da had nothing to say, not weighed in on Connor's side about the mess "being unacceptable especially as we're going to have a visitor today" . His Da had just listened to the beginning of his ticking off from Sibeal and Connor, looked at him sympathetically (or at least Murphy thought there was sympathy in his glance) and moved to a different part of the room to pray. He guessed that mess wasn't top of his Da's sinlist. He had answered Father Sibeal politely and Connor not so politely and then his brother and uncle had joined his father in prayer and left him to clean up the mess, which he had felt obliged to do since it was upsetting Fr. Sibeal. He wasn't in the habit of skipping prayers especially morning and evening prayers. His ma had always said that missing prayer was a slippery slope and it was one of the few things he agreed with her on. So he settled down to it in the lounge just as the other men were finishing up. If he'd known he'd be praying on his own he would have moved into the bedroom but his Da got up just as he finished his fourth Hail Mary. Connor and Sibeal standing up shortly afterwards.

 

So intent was he in thinking about the Glorious Mysteries and the resurrection of Jesus that he barely noticed where the others were in the room or what they were doing. He first realised that someone else was in the flat when the Cardinal walked past him so close that his voluminous robes touched Murphy's shoulders and sat down on the sofa in the lounge facing towards where he knelt. He tried hard to continue meditating on the resurrection but moved thankfully onto the Hail Marys, bowing his head further more in an attempt to block out the strange priest than in true piety. "Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen." He shifted his position slightly suddenly feeling more intently than usual the thin carpet against his knees. Aware that as he was whispering his prayers Connor had been sent to fetch tea for the cardinal. "Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen." Whispering the words by rote and not thinking about what he was saying he thought how making the tea would almost certainly have been his job had he not been at prayer. 

 

"Hail Mary, full of grace." He felt his skin grow hot as he sensed the cardinal staring at him as he had the last time they had been together. "The . . the . . Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen." He knew he shouldn't but he felt vulnerable on his knees, praying with this curious stranger in the room. He wished that he could end the rosary quickly and pray again later on his own but he felt that would be disrespectful to the Lord. Not that he was doing a good job right now as prayers should be heartfelt and fervent and he was very distracted. As he whispered several more Hail Marys in quick succession he heard his Da say that they should wait to talk until he had finished his prayers, this made it somewhat worse as all four of them sat there in silence waiting for him to finish. He worked hard to clear his mind and concentrate more fully on the prayers he was offering.

 

"Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen." As he started to meditate on the second mystery he felt rather than saw the rather rotund cardinal kneel beside him, close enough that Murphy could feel the heat emanating from the man and smell the slightly sour odour of an older portly man. It was intently disturbing to have someone he didn't care for so close to him. He usually prayed plastered to Connor's side and he had even begun to follow a similar tack with Il Duce who certainly didn't object to the physical closeness at least for the duration of the prayer and had started himself to kneel close to his son when joining him for prayer. This closeness was different, it didn't blanket him in warmth as being next to his brother always did or provide the feeling of safety his father's hard thigh touching his own did instead it made him feel awkward, as if he was on display. He had to steel himself to keep whispering the familiar words of the next set of Hail Marys.

 

He rushed through the final mystery and the additional Hail Marys and then finished his prayers with the Hail Holy Queen, made the sign of the cross and rose intent on getting out of the room. He knew his father wanted him to stay for the conversation with the cardinal but he needed some space. It was good, for just a moment, to be on his own and he sat down on the bed intent on producing some kind of useful prayer, something to make up for that terrible rosary. Several minutes passed for Murphy whilst he was deep in thought about the mission, the strange bond that he had developed with his father and the fact that he and his beloved brother were probably both going to die here in this cold city so far away from where they belonged.

 

Connor came into the bedroom they shared looking slightly irritated. "Murph, Murph are you praying?"

Murphy looked up at his twin. "No, No I was just thinking."

"They're all waiting for you." To say Murphy was surprised was an understatement, surely they could just discuss whatever they needed to discuss without him. "Why the fuck would they do that."

"Il Duce said, we would wait for you to be finished and he's sat there in silence ever since."

"Oh Fuck, are they pissed off?"

"I was, couldn't say about the others." Connor never really got pissed off about things like this so Murphy ignored that.

 

There was only one seat left in the lounge and it was next to the cardinal. Murphy hovered at the entrance for about 30 seconds and then walked over to where his brother was sitting, sitting down almost on top of him and forcing him to share the single armchair. Connor didn't issue a word of complaint as if this was how they always sat and just shifted his weight over to allow more room. Il Duce looked at them both curiously but as usual didn't comment.

 

"This whole joint operation was Murphy's idea so it was important that we wait for him to get here." He felt himself blush momentarily until he noticed the cardinal was back at staring at him."You must be a holy vessel indeed Murphy. Not only devout but also able to think in a different way and see more of God's plans." As he looked away and towards the floor he could feel rather than hear his brother's laughter, Connor's sides were shaking although he kept his face perfectly straight. If it had been anyone else other than a priest he would have undoubtedly ripped the piss about Murphy being a holy vessel but, of the few things that Connor took seriously, it was respecting priests, nuns and brothers. If they'd disrespected a priest growing up the consequences would have been dire, far worse than the usual clip round the ear and they had tried to be good for their mother, tried so hard really. 

 

Il Duce quickly changed the topic and the morning dragged on with plans for what they were going to do in the projects, who could be brought in, how it would be sold to them, what Sibeal should be doing/saying. Murphy tried to be quiet and let the others sort it out; however, he found that he wasn't even allowed to drift away really as whenever he did his father would ask him his opinion and seek to bring him into the conversation, frowning if Murphy hadn't been paying attention. So he smoked many cigarettes and tried hard to ignore the Cardinal's staring and his occasional comments. At some point his Da offered the Cardinal lunch and Sibeal went to pack his bag as it had been agreed he would be leaving with the Cardinal and moving into the local seminary. Being glad of the excuse of getting out of the lounge he pretty much ran into the kitchen to help his Da make bacon sandwiches and tea.

"He still making ye uncomfortable lad?" Murphy took a drag of his cigarette and shook his head. "It ain't nothing. It don't matter."

His father gave him a hard look but said nothing else on the subject. 

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Murphy would never have described himself as curious or nosey. Always figured that if people wanted to keep secrets that was their right but he found himself damn irritated to be excluded from the flat whilst his father had a bit of "business" with the Cardinal. Sibeal had stayed but Connor and he had been asked to go to the corner shop whilst they talked. He'd been half tempted to sneak back into the flat somehow and see if he could hear the conversation but had rejected that idea as dishonest. However, when the Cardinal came out of the flat after about 10 mins looking mighty flustered he headed straight back in, not sure what he was anxious about but keen to check that his father and uncle were alright. As he approached the lounge he heard his uncle and his father arguing.

 

"Ye could have been kinder Noah. Ye could've left it."

 

"Aye. I could've."

 

"But you aren't sorry?"

 

"No brother."

 

"You who preach tolerance to me. Ye always say not to condemn a man because of his sexual orientation." Murphy had a sick feeling that he knew where this was going but stood rooted to the spot, unable to interrupt or make his presence known.

 

"I don't condemn him for his sexual orientation. I disliked his behaviour."

 

"Ye couldn't have just left it. Its not like Connor and Murphy can't take care of themselves against one old man."

 

"Aye they can both take care of themselves against pretty much everyone but, there's an innocence there. A sort of naivety about certain matters. Its in both of them or at least I think it is; its more difficult to tell with Connor. Leastways, I'm sure they didnae know what the fuck was going on."

 

"There was a kind of innocence about him too. He didn't know what he was doing, he thought it was the touch of God that he was lusting after not two pretty young men."

 

"Aye. I believe that he didn't know." Noah paused and then said softly "and that's the reason he walked out of here in one piece. Look, Sibeal, I've got one mission at the moment and its to keep those two boys safe to do the Lord's work. I take that very seriously and safe, to my mind, means safe from all harm including the type of thing the Cardinal did here today. He lusted over my boy whilst he was praying. Made him feel so uncomfortable that he couldn't finish his rosary. That ain't right, those boys are sacrificing everything for this mission. It won't be the Cardinal or ye that'll end up with a bullet or life imprisonment in Hoag, it's them. They deserve respect." Murphy thought he heard his uncle sigh. 

"Aye that they do lad. I pray night and day that they don't suffer whatever happens to them. The idea of those sweet-natured boys in that hell-hole."

"They'll do what they have to Sibeal and then they'll be in Our Father's arms where all wounds left by this world will be healed. That's what I know to be true and ye have to believe it too."

"Amen, brother."

 

xxxxxx

 

Murphy didn't get a proper chance to think through what he had overheard until he found himself walking to the local video shop to rent a film for them to watch before starting work that evening - how he had ended up being the one going to the video shop he didn't know since it was Connor's idea and Connor's choice of film. Still, the short walk gave him a chance to mull it all over and he thought once again how similar to Connor his Da was. He knew he should mind the stupid protectiveness. He was 28 years old, survived torture and beatings and had shot, gutted and beaten to death more violent men than he could count. He headed up the FBI's most wanted list and would certainly be headed to life in solitary confinement or death row if he was ever caught. It was daft for his Da to feel the need to protect his virtue, to consider him vulnerable or "naive" and in need of protection. However, he didn't mind his Da's attitude, it gave him a warm feeling. He was used to this over-protectiveness from Connor, had lived under its weight his whole life, knew that if Connor was in a fight, verbal or physical, it often had him at the centre of it. He knew with Connor, had always known, that his over-bearing behaviour and his over-protectiveness were one of the ways he had of showing his love, something he could never say. He wondered if it was the same with his Da or whether he was just following God's instructions as he claimed to Sibeal.

 

As for the Cardinal, well that really didn't bother him now he knew what was going on. He had been uncomfortable with the man before as he hadn't understood all the staring, the strange comments and the touching. The cardinal had reminded him a little of Fr. Kinney, their local parish priest who had definitely not liked him or anything about him. Murphy had half-expected that the cardinal would stare for a while and then start to point out his faults to his Da, criticise his twitching, his lack of stillness, his foul-mouth and the way he prayed and then maybe his Da would notice these things in the way his Ma had, and maybe his Da would realise what his Ma had, that he wasn't as devout, as pious, as good or as clever as Connor. 

 

Being the object of someone's sexual attraction was however something he could handle just fine. Men and women often reacted like this to him and although he pretty much never returned the feeling he usually enjoyed the attention, found it flattering. Murphy knew his brother was also sometimes subject to the same attention, despite his clear stay-away demeanour; however, Connor found such attention deeply irritating and had no difficulty in showing it. He had felt sorry for a couple of his brother's more persistent fans who had been dispatched with Connor's own brand of sharpness; however, that was nothing to how crestfallen the Cardinal had looked when he came out of the flat. The churchleader wouldn't even look Murphy in the eye and had seemed to have been shaking. His father could be scary at the best of times; he didn't seem to do soft and kind with anyone except his sons, his brother and the odd frightened victim. Murphy didn't want to think about how harsh he might have been about it all.


End file.
